Libya: US urges, UN agrees

UN Nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Monday he had agreed with senior US and British officials how to assess and dismantle Li...

UN Nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Monday he had agreed with senior US and British officials how to assess and dismantle Libya’s atomic capabilities. Diplomats said ElBaradei wanted assurances that the UN agency would not be shut out of verifying Libya’s nuclear programmes.

‘‘We have an agreement on what needs to be done. We need to do the verification,’’ ElBaradei said in Vienna. He made the comments after meeting John Bolton, the US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, and his British counterpart, William Ehrman.

‘‘It was a constructive meeting. I think we’re all on the same page with the IAEA,’’ Bolton said. ElBaradei said IAEA would verify Libya’s nuclear disarmament while British and US troops would carry out the destruction and removal of any nuclear equipment or materials.

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‘‘We need British and US support with logistics and I think the meeting was trying to coordinate our cooperation,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s important that we move fast.’’

The agency has publicly disagreed with the UK and US over the scope of Libya’s nuclear programme after the IAEA concluded that Libya was years from producing a weapon despite comments from UK and US suggesting it was close to having the bomb. — (Reuters)